Learning to chant the suttas.

Chanting is memory and devotion together, the discourses carried in the voice, not only on the page.

In these classes we learn to recite the suttas, the recorded discourses of the Buddha, in Pāli, the liturgical language of Theravāda Buddhism. It is slow, patient work: a teacher leads a line, the room answers, and over weeks the words settle into the body.

The temple has always held recitation to be more than study. Chanting the Great Book of Protection, suttas drawn from the five Nikāyas, the collected discourses, is said to give “holy protection and spiritual blessing” when recited with sincerity.

From our founder

“Learning the Dhamma alone is not enough; we need to learn and recite the suttas for our protection, increase in faith, wisdom and understanding.”

July – December

Five classes across the week

Classes begin after the Vassāna invitation to the Saṅgha and run through the second half of the year, pausing on every New Moon and Full Moon day, the traditional Uposatha observance days. Each class builds on the one before it, so most begin on a Monday and move through the week as they progress.

No classes on New Moon or Full Moon days. The Wednesday session also includes Abhidhamma chanting, a systematic recitation of the Buddha's analysis of mind and matter, which the Dhamma Fellowship also studies.

Three books, three purposes

Across the week the classes work through three texts. Each is chanted for a different reason, gratitude, protection, and remembrance.

Pāli Pāḷi

The liturgical language of Theravāda Buddhism, in which the discourses were preserved.

Sutta Sutta

A recorded discourse of the Buddha; the texts we learn to recite.

Paritta Paritta

Protective recitation, suttas chanted for blessing and safeguarding.

Maraṇasati Maraṇasati

Mindfulness of death; the verses chanted at funeral services.

Abhidhamma Abhidhamma

The Buddha's systematic analysis of mind and matter.

Start on Monday, then build

The classes are sequential, each one asks that you have completed the one before. New students always begin with the Monday class and move on as they are ready; the temple's guidance is that the fuller progression unfolds over more than a single season.

1. Monday · this season

   Path of Emancipation

   Every new student begins here and completes it first. No prerequisite.

2. Tuesday · next

   Great Book of Protection · Parts 1 & 2

   Open once you have completed Path of Emancipation. The temple notes that new students move on to these parts in the following year.

3. Wednesday

   Parts 3 & 4, & Abhidhamma Chanting

   Open once you have completed Parts 1 & 2.

4. Friday

   Parts 1–4 Revision

   A consolidating class, open once you have completed all four parts.

Coming for the first time

Beginners are welcome at the Monday class, and the Sunday class is open to everyone. A few practical details are still being confirmed with the temple.

There is no advance sign-up. New students are welcome to come straight to the Monday class, the class every beginner starts with, and settle in at the back until the chanting becomes familiar.

Which hall is used, whether chanting books are provided, and whether there is a fee or a free-will dāna (donation) arrangement are details the temple is still confirming for this page. Calling ahead, see below, is the surest way to check before your first visit.

In the meantime, the surest way to find out is to ask in person or by phone, see below. If it is your first visit to the temple, what to expect and getting here will help you arrive at ease.